By Kathryn Bender, Star-BulletinAmong the treasures at the Windward Garden Fair
is this dwarf podocarpus, shown by Julie Rogers-
Flores and Paul Weissich.
ROSES are red, violets are blue, they're very expensive, won't something else do? Plant lovers will
adore Windward FairPerhaps, but on Valentine's Day, only the most devoted home gardener would be delighted with a sack of compost to improve her plants. Consider some other options.
On the 14th, a week from tomorrow, Friends of Hoomaluhia Botanical Garden will offer a variety of gifts at their first Windward Garden Fair and Plant Sale.
The compost, if you want it, is free, but you have to bring your own sacks and shovels.
On a more romantic level, there will be custom made leis and rare plants as well as paintings and sculptures by local artists.
A "White Mongoose Sale" (when was the last time you saw an elephant in Kaneohe?) will feature gently used garden tools collected by the Kaneohe and Lani-Kailua Outdoor Circles and a collection of previously read garden books. Some of these are real treasures, from the library of the late landscape architect Jim Hubbard.
Julie Rogers-Flores, chairwoman of the event, promises a wonderful event for the whole family, which is a safe bet, and Paul Weissich, former director of the garden, promises that it won't rain. That's less of a sure thing, but there is lots of shelter if he's wrong.
A prize for collectors is the first release of a dwarf podocarpus that has been propagated from a tree growing at Hoomaluhia. It was brought from Japan about 15 years ago, and in that time has grown to only about 6 feet, and requires a minimum of care. It also makes a fine container plant or an addition to a traditional Japanese garden because of its extremely slow growth. Podocarpus is considered one of the cleanest and most pest-free plants available for landscaping.
A special feature of the sale is a group of plants recommended for gardeners who live on or near the beach. These include a new purple Vitex that is a highly salt tolerant small tree or hedge plant that is native to the mid-East, and several varieties of hau. Raiatea hau and red hau are from French Polynesia, and there will be a variegated hau from Melanesia.
A tree form of naupaka and ochrosia, a small tree from New Caledonia, will grow readily in beach sand. The ochrosia has leathery leaves and small, fragrant cream-colored flowers that grow in clusters at the tips of the branches. Ulei, a member of the rose family, is a salt- and wind-tolerant ground cover that looks much like mock orange.
Among the plants to be offered at the silent auction is a third or fourth generation transplant from the tree in India under which Buddha experienced enlightenment. The one at Hoomaluhia is an air layer from the tree at Foster Garden which is a seedling from a seedling from the original tree in Bihar.
A great feature of the sale is that if the plant is propagated at the garden, and all specimens are sold before you get there, you may leave an order which will be filled when a cutting or seedling is again available.
One reason that the potted plants sold from Hoomaluhia are healthy and vigorous is that they grow in a special potting soil developed by Weissich. The secret of this magic mix and its recipe will be divulged at a demonstration given by staff members of the garden. They will also delve into the differences between compost and mulch, explaining where to use either one.
Offered at public sale for the first time is the new and patented anthurium "Tropic Fire" developed by University of Hawaii horticulturists Haruyuki Kamemoto and Adelheid Kuehnle. The blossoms are a shiny bright red that bloom above the foliage. The plants produce an average of more than seven blossoms per shoot and many offshoots that can be removed and replanted. It is also resistant to the bacterial blight that devastated the anthurium industry in Hilo.
Alvin Tsuruda of Waihale Products in Kaneohe, a licensed grower of "Tropic Fire," will have plants on display and take orders for future delivery.
During the five hours of the sale, Ume Roth, an expert knife-sharpener, will set up shop in a corner of the garden. For a fee, he will sharpen garden tools, knives and chain saws. Nothing is more dangerous or harder to work with than a dull knife or pair of clippers, as all veteran gardeners know.
Weissich suggests bringing a picnic lunch and insect repellent -- the garden unintentionally breeds mosquitoes with an attitude.
There will also be amusements for the kids, including fishing on the lake in the center of the garden and stories by Critter Man, who is enormously popular with the elementary school crowd. Critter Man preserves bees, spiders, tarantulas and other entomological odds and ends in resin, like bugs in amber. Then he tells stories about them.
There certainly ought to be something here that will go straight to the heart of your Valentine. Otherwise, there are always roses.
Plants & more
What: Windward Garden Fair and Plant Sale
Gardening Calendar in Do It Electric!
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